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EPA to Rescind Methane Regulations for Oil and Gas
The Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to adopt new rules that would rescind regulations for methane-gas emissions, including ending requirements that oil-and-gas producers have systems and procedures to detect methane leaks in their systems, senior administration officials said. The rule changes will apply to wells drilled since 2016 and going forward, and remove the largest pipelines, storage sites and other parts of the transmission system from EPA oversight of smog and greenhouse-gas emissions. The changes also ease reporting requirements for the industry and, for some facilities, how often a plant must check for leaks of other pollutants, the officials said. [ read more … ]
Wind Energy
Inventor of Wind Turbine Is Trying to Harness Unlimited Power
The turbine inventor Henrik Stiesdal is small in the shadows of gigantic curves of steel, watching workers weld towers that will be rooted to the seabed. This factory in the Danish countryside has churned out thousands of masts for wind turbines whose blades can stretch more than 500 feet. It’s an important contribution to a global wind revolution that’s supplying electricity to millions of homes worldwide. [ read more … ]
Relief Legislation
Senators ask for extension of tax credits for offshore wind
A bipartisan group of senators led by Republican Bill Cassidy of Louisiana wrote the Treasury Department asking for a safe harbor extension for offshore wind projects that qualify for the production tax credit and the investment tax credit. The Internal Revenue Service has already extended the so-called “safe harbor” provisions under the wind and solar tax credits to account for delays companies have faced because of the virus outbreak. [ read more … ]
Transmission
$1B power line fight could thwart Northeast CO2 plans
A $1 billion proposed power line is creating a political maelstrom that could have broad repercussions for New England’s plans to slash greenhouse gas emissions. The New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) would bring hydropower from Canadian dams into Maine and Massachusetts. The governors and utility regulators in both states say it is an important project for zeroing out emissions from the power sector by 2050 — a goal of both states. The line is opposed both by environmentalists who say it would simply shift greenhouse gas emissions from Canada and the United States and by Indigenous groups seeking redress from the company after being displaced by dams decades ago. [ read more … ]
The $16 billion plan to beam Australia’s Outback sun onto Asia’s power grids
The island continent, distant from Asia’s megacities, plans to capture the plentiful Outback sun, store it in giant batteries until nightfall and transmit it to Singapore along a watermelon-width cable traversing 2,800 miles of sea floor, including a deep trench. The Australia-ASEAN Power Link, which is part-owned by two Australian billionaires and was endorsed last month by the Australian government, may be the most ambitious renewable energy project underway anywhere. And it could mark a new chapter in the history of energy: the intercontinental movement of green power. [ read more … ]
Natural Gas
Utilities, firms launch $100M plan to shift from natural gas
Several of the country’s largest utilities launched a $100 million initiative yesterday to develop alternatives to natural gas across energy sectors — and potentially head off looming threats to their businesses. The Low-Carbon Resources Initiative (LCRI), organized by the nonprofits Electric Power Research Institute and Gas Technology Institute, will seek to bring several early-stage technologies to commercial scale by 2030 [ read more … ]
Efficiency Standards
DOE faces legal attack over 25 efficiency standards
More than a dozen states and a coalition of environmental and consumer groups filed legal action against the Department of Energy yesterday, accusing the Trump administration of failing to update energy efficiency standards for 25 products. Led by New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), states including California and North Carolina took the first step toward suing the agency, aiming to force it to take immediate action to update the standards, which cover consumer, commercial and industrial products. [ read more … ]
Climate
Big Oil tees up another high court climate plea
A set of oil and gas firms yesterday called on a federal appeals court to stall a California county’s climate lawsuit while they take their fight to the Supreme Court. Chevron Corp., BP PLC and other giants in the fossil fuel industry are planning to ask the justices to weigh in on whether appeals courts can review decisions by lower benches to send cases back to state court — a question that’s plagued multiple lawsuits by U.S. cities, states and counties seeking to recoup the costs of addressing climate impacts. [ read more … ]
Off Topic
Delta Air Lines Bought an Oil Refinery. It Didn’t Go as Planned.
Jet fuel is known as the Steady Eddie of the refinery business, a predictable profit maker that balances the seasonal gyrations of gasoline and diesel sales. But for airlines, it is a headache — a big and unpredictable expense that confounds managers. So Delta Air Lines tried a bold experiment: It bought an oil refinery in 2012 outside Philadelphia, the first such purchase by a major U.S. airline. When jet fuel prices were high, as they were then, Delta figured the refinery, which turns crude oil into the stuff that planes, cars and trucks burn, could offset some of its expenses and perhaps even make money. [ read more … ]
EVs
Nikola inks landmark deal to make EV garbage trucks
Electric vehicle startup Nikola Corp. will take its first steps toward pioneering an unglamorous and weighty new vehicle: electric garbage trucks. Nikola, based in Phoenix, yesterday announced an order for 2,500 electric garbage trucks from Republic Services, the nation’s second-largest trash hauler. It is Nikola’s first big client to be made public, and the first sizable order in the United States for electric garbage trucks. [ read more … ]
Campaign 2020
Pennsylvanians back Biden, split on fracking — poll
Pennsylvanians are almost evenly split on the issue of fracking, though slightly more of them are opposed to the practice, a new poll shows. Among 1,225 registered Pennsylvania voters, 52% oppose fracking, while 48% support it, according to a CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday. The poll was conducted Aug. 4-7. It has a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points. [ read more … ]
Biden locks down mainstream green groups with Sierra Club endorsement
Joe Biden has won the backing of one of the nation’s largest, oldest and most influential environmental organizations — the Sierra Club. Ramón Cruz, the Oakland-based green group’s president, said in a statement that the urgent need to curb climate change in the next decade is compelling the Sierra Club to “do everything in our power to elect Joe Biden.” [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.